Admission requirements
- Only students of the MSc Crisis and Security Management can take this course.
Description
Security studies exist because international relations (IR) left too many questions unanswered. Realism, liberal internationalism, and constructivism all made major analytical inroads, but as the world changed, it became evident that new ideas were needed. Security studies emerged because it solved puzzles that IR could not. Setting aside a laser focus on national security, security studies enabled the study of myriad forms of security threats from the global, transnational, local, and familial. That shift pivoted on new analytical perspectives on board—regarding the role of language, new actors, the emergence of transnational dynamics, technology, questions of accountability, coordination, and legitimacy, among others. The results are tangible (not the least of which being ISGA and this class). Here’s the catch: arguably, security studies today suffer the same woes as IR three decades ago. “Security” and “crisis” are now so omnipresent that they are just normal. In part, that reflects shortcomings of theories that many of us may have held in too high regard. In part, it reflects the return of the state and interstate conflict which, since security studies often situated itself against IR, security theory is, arguably, poorly prepared to address. But it is also a simple truism: the world is, of course, still changing. The purpose of this course is not to teach students about the classics in security studies; it is to investigate, together, the problems, puzzles, and shortcomings of the field as it stands today, and then to look forward. That means (i) quickly ramping up on security studies is, (ii) getting up to speed on some cutting-edge literature, and (iii) critically examining contemporary world events. In some sense, it is an impossible task. The field is vast, and the problems are many. In this course we will focus on a range of topics that we study at ISGA, from crisis management, governance, physical violence, to terrorism, intelligence, war, and disaster management.
Course Objectives
After finalising this course, students are able to:
- Understand the major scholarly trends in Crisis and Security Studies.
- Understand recent developments in the seven sub-fields addressed in the course.
- Self-evaluate and reflect after interactive in-class work and individual assignments
- Reflect critically on academic articles especially vis-à-vis their utility for policymakers.
- Identify different types of actors responsible for the provision of security and recount, using practical examples of how and why these actors have competencies in the provision of security.
- Understand the intricacies and complexities relating to the practical coordination between security actors, across different levels of analysis, and informed by considerations of authority and accountability.
- Understand the significance of new technologies across some fields of security studies.
- Deliver critical policy advice.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of Instruction
This course consists of seven seminars.
Attendance is highly recommended
Total study load: 140 hours
Lectures: 21 hours
Self-study and examinations: 119 hours
In this 5 ects course, we will focus on the research skill assignment that is going to be part of your portfolio. Specific information on the portfolio assignment and the intended learning outcomes that are being acquired will be published in the syllabus of this course.
Assessment method
Assessment for this course is based on two assignments:
Midterm assignment
25% of total grade
Policy brief
Resit not possible
Final exam
75% of total grade
The grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course
Resit possible
The calculated overall course grade must be at least 5.50 in order to pass the course..
In the case of written assessment methods, the examiner can always initiate a follow-up conversation with the student to establish whether the learning objectives have been met.
Transitional arrangement
Passed partial grades obtained in year 2023-2024 are no longer valid in the year 2024-2025.
Please be aware that passed partial grades obtained in academic year 2024-2025 are no longer valid during academic year 2025-2026.
Reading list
A selection of books and articles, to be announced on Brightspace.
Registration
Register yourself via MyStudymap for each course, workgroup and exam (not all courses have workgroups and/or exams).
Do so on time, before the start of the course; some courses and workgroups have limited spaces. You can view your personal schedule in MyTimetable after logging in.
Registration for this course is possible from Wednesday 12 July 13.00h
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Contact
Dr. Matthew Hoye j.m.hoye@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Dr. Vlad Niculescu-Dincav.niculescu-dinca@fgga.leidenuniv.nl